In the Buddha Hall
Suddenly we have clear sky which means frost at night. last night the moon and stars were brilliant. It was chilly in morning service, but then the sun got up and it was delightful feeling a beam of it fall on my shoulder and extend all the way to the Quan Yin shrine.
One result of our open-to-the-elements Buddha Hall is that pigeons and other birds come in. they perch on the rafters. Of course, there are some natural consequences and Modgala spent some of the morning cleaning a zafu cushion that was the worse for guano.
The Grass is Growing
Clear sky also means blissfully warm days. “Spring comes and the grass grows by itself” it says in the Chinese Buddhist classic Hsin Hsin Ming, which is wonderful, but in our case does not lead to inactivity. There is a lot of the green herb to cut here and Adam and I have been out between times making interesting patterns in the verdure as we cut it back with strimmers. Meanwhile Modgala has gone back to her digging and weeding. There is pklenty of that too. One is never at a loss for something to do here.
Writing
I’ve been writing, as usual, and you can see several of the results on the site.Here's what I have written in the past couple of days:
Dealing with Emotion
Some distinctive Features of Amida Pureland Buddhism
Spiritual Life at La Ville au Roi (Eleusis)
The Unborn
The Story of Parsva
I have also created two new documents by consolidating existing posts that are on similar themes:
Dharma Explanations
Amida Pureland Buddhism
I’m feeling quite stimulated in my writing at the moment. Elja’s latest translation has been accepted for publication on-line in Dutch - well done!.
Elja in Netherlands
i was able to talk with Elja on Skype today and she has a very full agenda of activities there in Netherlands, including all-important medical consultations. i hope she will write a daily soon.
Precious Community
Although Elja is away, it does not really feel as if we are apart. This is, in part, a function of being in the amitarya life. The fact that all four people who make up the community at the moment are on or aspire to the amitarya life makes for a sense of cohesion and long term involvement that makes distance seem of little account. The other people who have been here this year - Susthama, Damian, Josephine - all feel to be close at hand too, even though they have gone to their other homes. And we are also thinking of Annette who is away on retreat, but will soon be back with us and Jnanamati who is coming next month. This sense of community is certainly something precious.
Finally, at the end of the day, we had the most wonderful sunset. The sky was crimson. i would have liked to post a photo, but could not get my camera to work. Somethings are just of the moment.
Replies
:-)
Yes it was lovely to be a guest in your old flat Susthama. I slept very well on the couch with David next to me lying on his camping bed. We took over your living room completely with our visit.... It was a perfect way to meet you and your family for the first time! :-) I and I hope we can be your guest in the future too in your new home.
Yes, climbing over one another to get to the kitchen did make for close relations, but there is also something to be said for space. Namo Amida Bu.
I haven't quite caught up with all the dailies or teachings but I gather that we have a new postulant on the amitarya path about which I am thrilled.
Yes, to her it is big. I guess it must feel much better to you too after the small apartment you had before - when one has had to go without one is so much more appreciative of small things and things that richer people take for granted. Everything of that kind is relative. We adjust to what we have and then when it grows we feel freer. Strange to think that the world might be a happier place if everybody had had a period of real poverty at some point in their life. I know that it is true in my own case that I appreciate things more for the times in the past when I had to struggle.
And yes, Damian's car is back on the road again....until the next fizz bang. Our mechanic seems to like the little sports car and Damian. The first time we took it to him he tried to give Damian some money back but of course Damian insisted that he earned it. The second time it went in for a service it was treated to the equivalent of a free manicure and pedicure, and this last time he gave Damian a hug.
Hi Susthama, nice to read a message from you and glad that you are finally moved to your new apartment! How is Selena doing in her new home? And is the car driving again? Much love for you all. I hope you feel at home soon in your new place.
Susthama Kim said:
The move into our new place is now complete. Jnanamati came and stayed for a night to attend his course in London last weekend, and it was lovely to be able to welcome him at this new place. We still have some things to sort out but the majority of things are finally done. We were without the internet for a while and with all the upheaval I have not been able to check things on the world wide web at home.
I just wanted to say that I feel grateful to be part of the amitarya community and yes, although there is noticeable distance there is still a sense of cohesion which makes the community even more precious.
:-). Night night.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next